Disparities in the Courts

August 19, 2010

NC NAACP Letter to Attorney General Cooper and other State Leaders Regarding Recently Revealed Evidence of Unconstitutional Bias in Jury and SBI Procedures

Dear Attorney General Cooper and State Leaders:

Since our founding in 1909, the NAACP has been concerned about inequalities and abuses by the United States and the individual states' prosecutorial and law enforcement agencies.Agencies in North Carolina have not been exempt and have engaged in many of these abuses. Racially discriminatory hiring and voting practices created virtually all-white prosecutorial, law enforcement and judicial agencies as late as the 1970's in North Carolina. ...

April 24, 2009

NAACP presidents from Wilson, Rocky Mount and Edgecombe County, along
with several area elected officials, are calling on Gov. Bev Perdue to
appoint an African-American to the post of district attorney for the
Seventh Judicial District. See News and Observer story quoting Rev. Barber and Spring Hope Enterprise story quoting Andre Knight..

February 20, 2009

The NC NAACP has played an integral role in exposing a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in North Carolina, as exemplified by the case against James Johnson of Wilson, NC. Learn more at www.ncprosecutorialmisconduct.com.

July 23, 2008

Spurred by the NC NAACP, the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus has passed a resolution protesting the continued prosecution of James Johnson, a young man who identified the killer of a Wilson girl. More.

April 11, 2008

State NAACP leaders say "federal courts in North Carolina have not freed enough inmates under
new laws meant to reduce the disparity in prison sentences between
African American and white drug offenders," especially between crack and powder cocaine, the Charlotte Observer reports. The courts are "foot-dragging," said Rev. William Barber, president of the NC NAACP. He's upset because federal courts in other states released
hundreds of inmates the first week the new guidelines took effect in March.

According to a NAACP Action Alert, the tremendous
disparity in the punishment for possession of crack cocaine and powder cocaine
is unjust and undermines the authority of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees
equal protection under the law from disproportionate
punishment. Furthermore, the current 100 to 1 quantity ratio has had
a disproportionate and devastating impact on the African American community. The national NAACP Action Alert, along with sample letters to public officials, can be found here.